By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Published: April 24, 2008

A 27-year-old Thai man who refused to stand up when the royal anthem was played in a movie theater has been charged with l? majest?offending the dignity of the monarch, the police said. The crime is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The man, Chotisak Onsoong, failed to get on his feet last September when the anthem was played before the film started, as is customary in Thailand, where King Bhumibol Adulyadej is widely revered. ''It's the right of any individual to choose what to do,'' Mr. Chotisak said.

Last year, a Swiss man was sentenced to 10 years for defacing the king's portrait during a drunken spree. The king granted him a pardon, and he was deported after spending slightly more than four months in jail, most of it awaiting trial.